Welcome to the Virginia Tech SuperDARN Student Interest Page. Here you will find information important to prospective, current, and future VT SuperDARN students, as well students with a general interest in Space Science. This includes information about the lab, news items of interest to students, and important training and policy information. If you have interest in SuperDARN or space related studies, please contact either Dr. Mike Ruohoniemi or Dr. Jo Baker.

The Virginia Tech SuperDARN radar group conducts research on Earth’s space environment using HF radars and allied instrumentation and operates the U.S. component of the international SuperDARN collaboration as an Upper Atmosphere Facility for the National Science Foundation. The activities of the group are student-centered and involve all facets of research, including hardware design, operations, data analysis, and collaborative support for the scientific community. The group is a component of the Space@VT research center within the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech.

Current student research activities include analysis of ionospheric irregularities observed with the new mid-latitude chain of SuperDARN radars, study of ultra low frequency pulsations in the magnetosphere and ionosphere, intercomparison of GPS/TEC data with radar observations of ionospheric stucture, and studies of ionospheric plasma convection and the impacts of space weather disturbance on the ionosphere. Students are closely involved with the operation of the radars including travel to the sites and hardware development and testing. Students also develop new data products and software tools for analysis. They assist members of the scientific community in accessing and utilizing the SuperDARN data set, develop scientific collaborations with colleagues, and represent the group at meetings and conferences. The Virginia Tech SuperDARN radar group is headed by Drs. J. Michael Ruohoniemi (miker@vt.edu) and Joseph B. H. Baker (bakerjb@vt.edu).

Please visit our Archive of Student Items page for important information such as research ethics training and other important information all SuperDARN students need to know.

News Items of Student Interest

Many of the news items below represent excellent opportunities for interested students at both the undergraduate and graduate level. If you would like to talk to a Virginia Tech student who has participated in a number of these types of programs, please feel free to contact our student representative, Nathaniel Frissell.

The Virginia Space Grant Consortium (VSGC) Undergraduate STEM Research Scholarship Program provides awards of up to $8,500 to rising juniors and seniors who are enrolled full-time in a program of study in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) and have a specific faculty-mentored research project that has NASA or aerospace relevance. Application deadline is January 28, 2019. See http://vsgc-net.odu.edu/undergraduatescholarships/

The VSGC Graduate Research STEM Fellowship Program provides fellowships of $6,000 in add-on support to graduate students to supplement and enhance basic research support. Applicants must be Student at NASA enrolled full-time in a program of study in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) and have a specific faculty-mentored research project that has NASA or aerospace relevance. Application deadline is January 28, 2019. See http://vsgc-net.odu.edu/graduatefellowships/

Applications are invited for the 2019 Heliophysics Summer School, which will be held July 23 - 30, 2019 in beautiful Boulder, Colorado. Approximately 35 graduate students or first or second year postdoctoral fellows will learn about the exciting science of heliophysics as a broad, coherent discipline that reaches in space from the Earth’s troposphere to the depths of the Sun, and in time from the formation of the solar system to the distant future. The theme of this year's school is "Heliophysics Exploration" (see 'Read More').
Application Deadline: February 22, 2019

Educational opportunities are available at NASA for students at all levels. Applications are now being accepted for 2019 summer internships with a deadline of April 1, 2019. NASA also makes competitive awards to support independent research by faculty, undergraduate, and graduate students. A Pathways program offers paths to Federal interships for student from high school through post-graduate studies.

For more details and answers to specific questions regarding NASA Summer 2019 internships click on the 'Read More' to this News item. The NASA hosting web site is https://intern.nasa.gov

UCAR is pleased to announce the 2019 call for applications for the Jack Eddy Postdoctoral Fellowship program sponsored by NASA’s Living with a Star (LWS) program. These fellowships are designed to train the next generation of researchers in the emerging field of heliophysics. The application deadline is January 11, 2019.

Fellows are UCAR employees and receive a fixed annual salary, UCAR’s extensive benefits package, and allowances for relocation, travel and publications. Appointments will be announced by April 1, 2019.

The Universities Space Research Association (USRA) is offering four scholarships for the next academic year to undergraduate students with a career interest in the physical, engineering, or life scientists with an emphasis on space or aerospace-related sciences or engineering.

The awards are available in amounts of $4,000 each, paid directly to receipients. Applicants must be full-time undergraduate students within two years of earning a degree and citizens or lawful Permanent Residents.

This summer (June 4-8), take advantage of an opportunity to explore the burgeoning field of space weather by joining the Space Weather REDI 2018 Bootcamp to be held at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and taught by NASA GSFC scientists. While the bootcamp training is geared to undergraduate students, it will be beneficial for anyone interested in broadening their space weather knowledge - graduate students, educators, scientists, engineers, mission operators, and competitive high school students. Note: while Bootcamp is free, hotel and other costs are the responsibility of the participant.

The Jicamarca Radio Observatory (JRO) located near Lima, Peru is once again the venue for a summer school that is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Senior undergraduate and beginning graduate students with interests in atmospheric and ionospheric science and radar techniques, electronics, RF, instrumentation and computer science may apply. If you would like to discuss this possibility with interested VT faculty, contact Dr. Mike Ruohoniemi (mikeruo@vt.edu) or Dr. Jo Baker (bakerjb@vt.edu) or any faculty member in the Space@VT research center listed at http://space.vt.edu/people.html. The application deadline is February 22, 2018 and the JIREP web site is http://jro.igp.gob.pe/jirep/

The 2018 ISR Summer School will be held July 21-27 at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. The school provides students with hands-on experience in designing and running experiments in the ionosphere and upper atmosphere with large incoherent scatter radars (ISRs). Applications are considered for both graduate and advanced undergraduate students and attendance is limited. For most students attending institutions within the United States, travel, housing and meals will be provided. For post-docs and students outside of the United States, funding will be considered on a case-by-case basis. The summer school web site is http://www.amisr.com/workshop For more information about the school, please contact summerschool at esd.sri.com

The deadline for application submission is 01 March 2018. Notice of acceptance will be sent to participants by 30 March 2018.

The 2018 Boulder Space Weather Summer School (formerly the CISM Space Weather Summer School) will be held July 9-20 at NCAR in Boulder, CO. The SWSS is a comprehensive two-week introduction to the science of space weather: what it is, what it does, and what can be done about it.
Application Deadline: March 1, 2018
For further information and instructions on how to apply see:http://www2.hao.ucar.edu/SWSS
Or contact Mark Miesch (miesch@ucar.edu).
See 'Read more' for additional details

The VSGC Undergraduate STEM Research Scholarship Program provides awards of up to $8,500 to rising juniors and seniors who are enrolled full-time in a program of study in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) and have a specific faculty-mentored research project that has NASA or aerospace relevance. Application deadline is February 5, 2018. See http://www.vsgc.odu.edu/sf/undergrad/

The Virginia Space Grant Consortium (VSGC) Graduate Research STEM Fellowship Program provides fellowships of $6,000 in add-on support to graduate students to supplement and enhance basic research support. Applicants must be Student at NASA enrolled full-time in a program of study in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) and have a specific faculty-mentored research project that has NASA or aerospace relevance. Application deadline is February 5, 2018. Seehttp://www.vsgc.odu.edu/sf/gradfellow/